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Women's charity the YWCA has expressed concern that teenagers are not included in the government's strategy to improve women's mental health, launched last week.

Mandana Hendessi, the YWCA's director of policy and campaigns, said that young women aged 13 to 15 years were most likely to self-harm, with those in prison and young Asian women at particularly high risk.

Meanwhile, Caroline Lindsey, the co-chairperson of the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and psychological well-being module of the National Service Framework for children, warned last week that it was necessary to be realistic about the time scale for implementing change.

Speaking at a conference, organised by the Harrogate Centre for Excellence, Lindsey said: "Even though the government has short timetables we know we are embarking on a long-term process. We need to be thinking in terms of a 10-year plan." She added that it was important to ensure staff were appropriately trained and that children's services were child and family-centred, comprehensive and collaborative.